Courtyard House: Ten-year-old Master Zhu reorganizes the entire courtyard

June, 1946.

Summer in Beiping arrives quickly and is extremely hot.

Commissioner Li's downfall came more suddenly and was more explosive than summer.

First came the newspapers.

A left-leaning tabloid published a tearful letter titled "The Bloodstained Letter of a Tongmenghui Widow" on an inconspicuous page.

The article is short, but every word is piercing.

Following this, several senior members of the city council jointly questioned the city government, demanding a thorough investigation into the "illegal appropriation" incident.

This is just an appetizer.

The real main course comes from Nanjing.

The investigation team sent from Nanjing obtained the anonymous incriminating material and treated it as a treasure.

Commissioner Li's political enemies immediately launched an attack.

With witnesses and physical evidence, the case is irrefutable.

Commissioner Li didn't even have a chance to struggle.

One morning, several black cars drove directly into the Li Mansion.

He was still wearing his pajamas when he was taken away.

I was completely stunned.

Along with him, Section Chief Ma and a group of his confidants were also taken away.

The news sent shockwaves through the entire officialdom of Beiping.

three days later.

The district office sent an officer, who rode a bicycle, to No. 95 Nanluoguxiang.

In the center of the courtyard, in front of all the neighbors, he cleared his throat and read out the official document from the municipal government.

The document's content was very simple.

An investigation revealed that the property rights of No. 95 Nanluoguxiang and the surrounding residences are clear and legally registered, and have no connection whatsoever with the "property of the Japanese puppet regime".

The affected residents should be comforted.

The schemes of criminals should be severely punished.

After the clerk finished reading, the courtyard fell silent for a second.

next second.

"oh--!"

The deafening cheers almost lifted the roof off.

People hugged each other, laughing and crying.

It was a kind of ecstatic joy after surviving a catastrophe.

Jia Zhangshi huddled at her own doorway, her face flushing red and then turning pale, not daring to look up at anyone.

Jia Laonian stood behind her, his back straight.

Yi Zhonghai stood in the crowd, watching all of this, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

He looked in the direction of the He family's house.

This time, he lost.

No, it's that he never understood the game from the very beginning.

He thought it was just a matter of personal relationships within the institute, or at most a conflict of interest within the factory.

He Yuzhu was playing with something much bigger, something he couldn't even touch.

He accepted his defeat wholeheartedly.

They were also terrified by the defeat.

……

A few days later, He Yuzhu returned from outside.

He stayed away for a few days, ostensibly to visit relatives in the countryside.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I ran into Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai is watering the flowers in the yard.

Upon seeing He Yuzhu, he paused for a moment, then forced a somewhat stiff but still sincere smile onto his face.

"Pillar, you're back?"

"Yes, Uncle Yi." He Yuzhu nodded.

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back." Yi Zhonghai put down the water ladle and rubbed his hands. "Stay a few more days. Your...your grandma keeps talking about you."

The "your grandma" he was referring to was a deaf old woman.

This is a gesture of goodwill.

It's also a stance.

He no longer regarded He Yuzhu as a "retirement tool" that could be calculated and controlled.

Instead, he regarded him as... a "new authority" in the institute whom he had to treat with great care.

He Yuzhu understood.

He didn't say much, just responded and went back into his house.

Some relationships don't need to be explained.

From checks and balances to cooperation, perhaps all it takes is a shared life-or-death crisis.

……

dusk.

He Yuzhu climbed onto the roof of his own house.

There is a small platform here, left over from when the roof was repaired.

He sat down and looked down over the entire courtyard.

The setting sun bathed the courtyard in a warm golden hue.

Smoke rose in wisps from the chimneys on the rooftops of each house.

The aroma of food filled the air.

Yi Zhonghai moved a deck chair to the center of the courtyard to cool off, fanning himself with a large palm-leaf fan.

Xu Fugui was pulling Xu Damao by the ear, dragging him home from outside, cursing under his breath.

Inside the Jia family's house, Jia Zhangshi's hushed complaints could be heard, but they were quickly interrupted by a cough from Jia Laonian.

In the backyard, the deaf old lady, supported by Xu Zhao, slowly took a walk.

Everything seemed to have returned to how it was before.

Calm, mundane, and full of the everyday life of ordinary people.

But He Yuzhu knew that something had changed forever.

If Commissioner Li falls, there will be Commissioner Zhang, and Commissioner Wang.

The Kuomintang's corruption has penetrated to its very core and is beyond redemption.

An even bigger storm is just around the corner.

He raised his head and looked at the distant horizon.

There, dark clouds are gathering.

A bolt of lightning silently tore through the clouds.

The sound of muffled thunder didn't reach us until much later.

It was impossible to tell whether it was thunder from the sky or... the sound of cannons from elsewhere.

In his mind, the system interface quietly appeared, updating the last line of text.

[Main quest of Volume 3: Acceptance and Resistance, completed.]

[Rating: Perfect.]

[Reward: +100 reputation with the faction "Southern District of Beiping City", and a slight boost to the trait "Strategic Planning".]

[Volume 4: The Shadow of Civil War Is About to Fall.]

[Mission Preview: Under the shadow of full-scale civil war, defend your homeland and face even greater challenges.]

He Yuzhu withdrew his gaze and looked back at the small courtyard below him.

This is his root in this life.

No matter what kind of bloodshed or storms may rage outside.

He will defend this place.

Protect this home.

(End of Volume 3)